22nd European Social Services Conference workshops
Finding innovative solutions to complex problems often involves partnerships across sectors. Social services have increasingly been working together with other public services, such as health, education, employment, justice and housing, as well as with civil society and the for-profit sector, to tackle some of today’s social challenges. The European Social Network (ESN) has been working together with its members, and particularly with the Leadership, Performance and Innovation working group, to explore the challenges and the benefits of intersectoral cooperation. You can read more on this topic in ESN’s recent paper ‘Working with education, health and employment: recognising a shared agenda’. The topic will also be discussed at the 22nd European Social Services Conference in Rome this year, and ESN members from Germany, Italy and Hungary will be sharing their experiences during the workshops sessions.
'INA! – Sustaining Integration in the workplace': improving performance of activation strategies (Germany)
As many jobseekers who successfully started a job gave up within the first six months, the Federal Employment Agency in Germany developed a pilot project at the job centre in Erfurt that provides post-employment support and targeted assistance for employees (and employers) in partnership with local social services, employers, migration services, rehabilitation organisations and education. The results show that 20% more jobseekers stayed in work after the first six months. The workshop will further discuss local strategies from different countries to integrate long- term unemployed people in the labour market.
Social and healthcare integration: Lazio Region’s strategy to support people with Alzheimer’s (Italy)
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may be destabilising not just for the person themselves, but for the entire family and, potentially, the whole community. For these reasons it is necessary to combine health care type measures with other social care strategies to be planned at a regional and local level. The goals are: to improve patients’ quality of life and maintain their independence, to maintain the psycho-social balance within the family, thus facilitating access to employment, and for services to create new, highly skilled practitioners specialising in social care for people with Alzheimer’s. Issues to be addressed include planning for optimal health and social resource allocation, setting standards, and using technology to obtain real-time data. The workshop will facilitate debate about improving outcomes through service integration.
Volunteering in communities: community service at secondary schools (Hungary)
From 2014, every Hungarian student in secondary school will complete 50 hours community service as part of their education. The after-school programme, introduced by the Ministry of Human Resources, involves opportunities in community service including those supporting older people, children and people with disabilities. This encourages students to develop civic responsibility and develops their confidence and future work skills. The workshop, presented by the National Family and Social Policy Institute, will discuss the impact of volunteering opportunities for young people and their local communities and compare different international programmes.
Read more about the wide range of workshops at the 22nd European Social Services Conference (in English, français, español, italiano, deutsch)